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2015 Grammys: Snoozefest until Kanye acted like Kanye

I look forward to The Grammys every single year because of my love my music. Even though The Grammys fail to recognize hundreds of talented and deserving artists, it is still the one night of the year that the industry brings all genres of music together under one roof. Music is a common thread among people of all races, cultures and beliefs and we all share the love for this creative outlet.

The evening was particularly boring, to say the least, until the last award. But let’s rewind to some of the show’s earlier performances. AC/DC started the evening, which was odd to me. Hi, how old are you? Their prime has long past. I was not into it. Madonna was Madonna and she did everything I thought she would. I really feel like I can’t criticize her because she basically created nearly every female pop artist after her. Ariana Grande had a super boring ballad. I cannot stand that girl. She does no annunciate her words when she sings. It’s like she sings with peanut butter on the roof of her mouth.

Ed Sheeran was really great with John Mayer, but it was another slow song. I was hoping he was going to do “Don’t” or “Sing” and then John Mayer would have done some cool, funk riffs, but oh well, it was still great. Gwen Stefani showed us all that she should not sing anything except her own No Doubt or solo career songs. Paul McCartney with Kanye and Rihanna was so uncomfortable. It felt super fake and forced. You had the living Beatle legend looking classy with his guitar, yet his mic seemed to be off. Then Kanye is over on the other side grabbing himself, while Rihanna awkwardly flaps her arms around and bobs to the song. Sometimes genres really shouldn’t collide and this was a great example. Just thinking about that performance again makes me cringe.

Annie Lennox and Hozier were spectacular. They were the perfect duo with their strong, powerful voices. “Put a Spell On You” was SUCH a good mix with the dark lyrics of “Take Me to Church.” That was probably my favorite performance of the night. Sia’s “Chandelier” was another one of my favorites. I love love LOVE this woman and her music. I understand her unique artistry and loved that Maddie was there again to perform with her. Kristen Wiig was definitely a shocker, but I kinda liked it. Lastly, from my list of memorable performances, was “Stay With Me.” When you put Mary J. Blige with Sam Smith you know that something beautiful is about to be created and it was UH-mazing.

Back to the most interesting part of the evening: the Album of the Year Grammy. The gut-wrenching feeling of Kanye running up to steal Beck’s thunder like Taylor was felt across America. How rude, disrespectful, immature, low, and just all around ridiculous of Kanye to ALMOST do that again. I was not laughing, I was in shock. It was almost worse by not actually saying anything right then and there and just scurrying back to his seat. The attention went to him and that’s what he wanted, in my opinion.

I know a few Beck songs here and there from his past records. I did some more research on him and listened to the winning album, Morning Phase. I have nothing but mad love for that guy. People were comparing his win to Martin Scorsese finally getting Best Director with The Departed after so many years of great films. Beck has 12 studio albums and now 5 Grammys after last night’s 3 wins. He’s no stranger to the art of music, much like Kanye would like to believe. Some of the quotes I was reading from him were just plain ludicrous. “…I am here to fight for creativity,” “Beck needs to respect artistry and he should have given his award to Beyoncé, and at this point, we tired of it.” Let’s just applaud for a moment because my oh my, Kanye is a man of undeniable intellect, I mean after all, he did name is child North West. Beck played every instrument on Morning Phase. He is a master of mixing and creating new sounds to combine genres to create one uniquely his own. Let this be a Grammy celebrating his entire music career thus far.As much love as I have for Beyonce, Beck is truly a musician, not just a performer. John Legend commented on Kanye’s view of Beck’s win and I have to say I totally agree with him. “While his win may have been a surprise to many, it’s not because he’s not a great artist deserving of recognition. All of the other nominated artists, including Beyonce, are incredible in their own right, and arguments could be made for any of them deserving to win.”

And my very last note on the evening: I really hope LL Cool J does not host again next year. I cannot name one thing that man does other than host the Grammys.